A human dynamo the sizing of a minivan lit up the skies off of Washington State . Naturally , multitude took to the net to solve the whodunit .
hypothesis ranged from stranger - invasion to a divebombing flock of seagulls . Yes , someone even suggested Megatron was returning to Earth .
Then we ’ve got the typical Russian conspiracist .
Hundreds of people cover a gaudy boom and a flash in the sky on March 7 around 7 p.m. local clip , reported local news stationQ13Fox . exigency management squad conform to the incident but were not indisputable what it was .
" The WA State Duty Officer reach the FAA and the Western Air Defense Sector and was tell they had no problem , " Grays Harbor Emergency Managment said in astatement . " There was NO earthquake . There are no reports of explosion or clash on the ground . We will continue our investigation of the incident and will forward any information we pick up . "
Scientists soon solved the mystery : it was a meteor . But not just any meteor .
" Really large meteors are called fireball , " Dr. Marc Fries with the NASA Johnson Space Center told the news place . " Really large fireballs are called bolide . This was a fireball . "
What they saw was a superluminous human dynamo . Technically , a bolide is just another terminus for a very bright meteor around the same order of magnitude of the planet Venus . Abolide , on the other hand , is a limited eccentric of fireball that explodes as it enters Earth ’s atmosphere .
Every year , thousands of fireballs put down into the Earth ’s aura . NASA even has a ready to hand maptracking fireballsthat have been tape since 1988 . Most of these happen over oceans and uninhabited neighborhood or during daylight , form it a rare sight to see .
But , the vivid the fireball the rarer it is . According to the American Meteor Society , a general dominion of thumb says there are only about one - third as many fireballs present for each successivelybrighter magnitude .
Seattle ’s National Weather Service wanted to remind Washingtonians that in the tremendous scheme of things a monolithic , flaming , hurling lump of rock really is n’t that swelled of a deal .
believe you saw a fireball ? The International Meteor Organization require that youreport them , just be certain you ’re not recording anything that go for more than 30 seconds or any blinking light that are crossing the sky . A fireball is often a once - in - a - lifetime event and count like a shot star .
In showcase you missed it , you could view this security department footage from Fox Island located about 8 kilometers ( 5 stat mi ) offshore .
